Taking Notes While Reading. Myth or Reality?

So I’ve heard through the grapevine that apparently some people like to take notes while they read books? Is this true?

And by reading books I don’t mean studying for a university exam. I mean sitting in your comfiest chair and reading your favourite fantasy novel or something.

When I heard that quite a few people did this, I was a little shocked, but I guess it makes sense in the end right?

If you’re a blogger, you’d probably want to remember different aspects of the book that you enjoyed.

Maybe there was a certain scene in the book that really stuck out to you, maybe there was a good foreshadowing in one of the earliest chapters, or maybe a quote that you just really liked.

In the end, whatever notes you took can be used to help create a good book review on your blog, but that is not the system I follow.

I guess to me, note taking seems kind of like I’m ruining my memory of the book.

When I read a book I like to be fully immersed in it. I like to believe that I am a ghost on the wall, experiencing the book’s story unfolding before me.

Taking notes on something I am a part of feels like a betrayal to me and the book.

Will I remember everything that happens? Probably not.

Will I remember that scene from the first chapter that basically foreshadowed the last scene of the book? Again, probably not.

Am I okay with that? Yes.

Why am I okay with that? Because me remembering the book is what I read a book for. What I take away from each book is what sticks with me. There’s a reason it sticks with me, and that’s why I remember it.

Plus, no offense to anybody who does take notes while reading, I don’t have time for that, and I can’t believe anybody does. I already take a long time to read books as it is, I don’t want to take an extra month because I am taking notes while reading a book.

Do you take notes while you’re reading? If so, why?